Where's the fudge, Judge?

It's not often that I post on the blog, I let Matthew handle the updates, but I had an experience this week that just required I share it with the world.  I was called on for jury duty!

I'm not like many other Americans that state they hate being called for jury duty.  I rather enjoy it.  I think there is a lot I can learn by being part of the process and there is also that chance I might get selected for a really cool case.  =)  I was really crossing my fingers and hoping for an arson case.  Unfortunately that was not to be.

I was selected for a jury, but this case involved an assault case that hinged on the frustration of not having a McDonald's sundae being made to the defendant's satisfaction.  Yes folks!  This was about a hot fudge sundae on the dollar menu at McD's!

Essentially the defendant ordered a hot fudge sundae and he stated the hot fudge was on the bottom, not the top like he would have liked.  He caused a ruckus and an assistant manager came out to assess the situation.  The employee told the customer he would need another dime to add hot fudge to the top.  The customer determined that this was not acceptable and grabbed the arm of the employee.  The customer was then given a refund and told to leave the store.  The manager then went to a different door to make sure the customer was leaving and upon opening the door was punched in the face by the customer.

This was all caught on tape and we in the jury were able to see photographs showing frame by frame what happened.  I honestly don't know how this case made it past the grand jury and to trial, as it was pretty cut and dry.  After talking to many people though, I have come to understand that these hot fudge sundaes are tasty treats and if there was an absence of hot fudge a punch to the face might be warranted.

I do need to mention that one of the more comical parts of this experience occurred in deliberation as several other jury members discussed the problem with McDonald's menu and what McDonalds classifies as a sundae.  I was educated that if you order a sundae from McDonald's you will be handed a container of soft-serve vanilla ice cream.  This in the minds of my peers on the jury does not constitute a sundae at all, but is simply a dish of ice cream.  Only if you specify that you want a hot fudge sundae will you actually be given a topping on your ice cream.  According to several of the jurors on the panel, this is ridiculous, because a sundae by definition has a topping on it!

I've decided to check.  Guess what?  My fellow jurors were correct!  Here is the definition of sundae according to dictionary.com:

sun·dae

[suhn-dey, -dee] noun

ice cream served with syrup poured over it, and often other toppings, as whipped cream, chopped nuts, or fruit.

My brother Chris let me know that we could really have made a statement to the world by not only finding the defendant guilty, but also finding McDonalds guilty of misleading the public.  I think he was on to something. =)  He also gave me the idea for the title of the blog post.  He asked if the defending attorney ever asked, "Where's the fudge, Judge?" and to my supreme disappointment, she did not.  When I tell this story in the future, I'm definitely going to pretend like she did though. =)

If you'd like to read more about this fascinating little case and learn more about our judicial system at work, I suggest you follow the below link for your enjoyment:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/aug/21/hot-fudge-sundae-dispute-leads-to-legal-hot/

I've also been met with incredulous stares and statements when I tell people that I've never actually had a hot fudge sundae from McDonalds.  I decided to rectify this void in my life and enjoyed a hot fudge sundae a few days after.

Mmm!  I've been missing out!  I'm happy to say I did not have an experience that resulted in an assault charge.  My sundae was created beautifully and tasted amazing! =)

Tyler, Shelly, and Logan Visit TN

Last weekend we were able to hang out with our friends, the Hales.  We became friends in Utah, and since then both our families have moved to different parts of the country, but luckily Tyler's family decided to have a reunion in the Smokies.  Tyler and Shelly came a few days early so we could spend some time together.  We stayed in a cabin in the Smokies.  There were great views on the way to the cabin....

...and great views from the cabin.

The cabin was a one bedroom, but there was plenty of space for the five of us.

We spent the day hanging out in the Smokies.  We were hoping to find a bear while going through Cade's Cove, but no such luck.  It was a great day to drive through though.

We ate dinner at Huck Finn's Catfish in Pigeon Forge where we had some southern treats such as fried green tomatoes, hushpuppies, and "vittles" (cole slaw and white bean soup.  Shelly and I split an order of frog legs.  Tyler and Lisa tried a taste of the frog legs.  Logan had a moral dilemma with eating frogs though so he stuck to corn dogs.

Shelly and Lisa went for a walk in the evening while the boys hung out in the cabin.  While outside a neighboring cabin yelled and alerted them to the presence of a bear.  Later that night the bear walked in the woods behind the cabin and back across the street where we were all able to see it.

The next day we all went into Gatlinburg and ate breakfast at the Pancake Pantry.  We immediately followed the huge breakfast up with fried Twinkies and Milky Way bars.  It was great to see Shelly and Tyler again and to hang out with Logan, who's a pretty cool kid.  Hopefully we'll meet up again soon.

Utah - Lisa's Family

After we made the transfer from my family to Lisa's, our first stop was to pick up the race packet.  Lisa didn't run the race due to her foot, but her brother Chris ran it and used Lisa's bib info.

On the day of the races, we dropped Chris off at 3AM.  We had some time to kill so we made some signs to support the family's marathoners.  Before we could cheer on Angie and Chris though, we watched as Nate and Greg completed the 5K and Natalie, Erin, and Emily completed the 10K.

Lisa supported everyone.  It was fun to see her sign draw smiles.  One runner stopped to introduce himself so he would no longer be a total stranger.  Some even took pictures of Lisa with her sign.

Angie finished in 4:18.  This beat the time from her first marathon!

Chris finished with 5:11.  Mike was able to run about 10 miles with him to offer support.

Other signs:

 Later that night we had a July 24th BBQ with Lisa's uncle and aunt and their family.  It was nice to see everyone.  There was good food, games, and even a bounce house.

 We spent one of our mornings at City Creek Center.  This area of downtown was constructed after we moved, so it felt like we were in a different city.  It is a cool area.  Luckily there was a Fanzz so we were able to stock up on BYU gear.

We took Trax from City Center to the Gateway Plaza to see Batman.  Lisa and I had seen Batman with my family, but we had no problems going again.  All in all, we spent more time with Batman than we did with some family members.

We were also able to go the the Hogle Zoo with Zach on his 4th birthday.  He came with a Mario mustache and an awesome hat!

The bird show was great.  Lisa did not count any of these birds toward her Big Year though.

Hogle Zoo has made great improvements.  There is a nice area for bears now so they were able to bring back polar bears.  It was fun to watch the bear swim around on a hot day.

On our last night we went back downtown to go on a Ghost Tour.  We took a shuttle to the various haunted locations in Salt Lake City.

Our guide.

We didn't see any ghosts, but our cell phone app told us there were many around us on our tour.  But even without any sightings, it was a nice tour and a great way to end the vacation.